Open Road Nabs “The Grey”

Open Road Nabs "The Grey"

U.S. rights to director Joe Carnahan’s “The Grey” have been picked up by Open Road Films, Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films and Mickey Liddell, CEO of Liddell Entertainment said Tuesday.

Full release follows:

Open Road Films has acquired the U.S. rights to the highly anticipated, action-packed survival thriller, “The Grey,” directed by Joe Carnahan (A-Team, Smokin’ Aces, Narc) and starring Liam Neeson, from Liddell Entertainment. The announcement was made today by Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films and Mickey Liddell, CEO of Liddell Entertainment.

In “The Grey,” a group of oil-rig roughnecks are left stranded on the sub-arctic tundra after their plane experiences a complete mechanical failure and crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. The survivors, battling mortal injuries, biting cold and ravenous hunger, are relentlessly hunted and pursued by a vicious pack of rogue wolves. Liam Neeson plays the leader of the team, which also features Frank Grillo (upcoming Warrior and Lay The Favorite), Dermot Mulroney (Burn After Reading, About Schmidt), Dallas Roberts (“The Good Wife,” 3:10 To Yuma), Joe Anderson (Across The Universe), James Badge Dale (upcoming World War Z, The Conspirator, HBO’s “The Pacific”?), Nonso Anozie (upcoming Conan The Barbarian, Atonement, RocknRolla).

Ortenberg stated, “Joe Carnahan has done a phenomenal job of bringing this riveting story of the human condition to life. Liam Neeson’s performance is brilliant and I am thrilled to be working with Joe – and to be back in business with Mickey Liddell – on the release of the film.”

“Tom Ortenberg basically started me in this business, so to be working with him and his team at Open Road offers that rare thrill of reteaming with an old friend,” stated Carnahan. “I couldn’t engineer a better partnership for bringing “The Grey” to moviegoers, guns blazing.”

Liddell stated, “Working with Joe Carnahan, Jules Daly and Scott Free was an incredible experience under extreme conditions. I would be happy to work with them anytime and anywhere but hopefully in warmer weather. I worked with Tom last year and saw his passion for film. We’re fortunate to be partnering with such a seasoned veteran in the business and I know he’s going to do an incredible job with this film.”

“The Grey” is produced by Jules Daly, Joe Carnahan, Ridley Scott and Mickey Liddell. Executive producers are Tony Scott and Jennifer Hilton as well as Jim Seibel, Bill Johnson and Marc Butan of Inferno Entertainment.

The deal was negotiated on behalf of Open Road Films by Ortenberg, General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Operations and Business Affairs, Elliott Kleinberg, and Senior Vice President of Acquisitions, Ben Cotner. CAA, which packaged and arranged financing for the project, negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers.

About Open Road FilmsFounded earlier this year by AMC Entertainment Inc. (AMC) and Regal Entertainment Group (Regal), the two largest theatrical exhibition and entertainment companies in the United States, Open Road Films is a dynamic,acquisition-based domestic theatrical distribution company. Open Road Films’ first release, Killer Elite, the action-thriller starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro, is scheduled for release nationwide on September 23, 2011. Other upcoming titles from Open Road include The Host, based on Twilight series author Stephanie Meyer’s best-selling book, which is scheduled for release on March 29, 2013, as well as the psychological thriller Key Man. More info on Killer Elite at: www.KillerElite.com, www.facebook.com/KillerEliteMovie and @Killer_Elite; more info on Open Road Films at: www.openroadfilms.com, www.facebook.com/OpenRoadFilms and @OpenRoadFilms.

About Liddell EntertainmentLiddell Entertainment is a film production company focused on developing and producing high quality films in multiple genres. With The Grey starring Liam Neeson and directed by Joe Carnahan, Silent House starring Elizabeth Olsen and The Collection in post production, Liddell Entertainment is prepping a September shoot for Disconnect. Past acquisitions and productions include Biutiful starring Javier Bardem and directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, The Haunting Of Molly Hartley, The Collector, Good Hair, and I Love You Phillip Morris. Liddell Entertainment recently sold The Details starring Tobey Maguire and Elizabeth Banks to The Weinstein Company.

About Scott Free ProductionsScott Free Productions was formed in 1995 and is the film and television production vehicle of acclaimed film directors, brothers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. Scott Free Films recently released the highly acclaimed international hits Robin Hood, The A-Team, and Unstoppable, and the indie films Cyrus, Welcome to the Rileys and most recently Kevin Macdonald’s extraordinary YouTube backed Life in a Day. Upcoming, Ridley Scott is directing Prometheus starring Charlize Theron and Michael Fassbender. Scott Free Television produces the Emmy(R) and Golden Globe(R) nominated hit TV show The Good Wife for CBS, and the Emmy(R) and Golden Globe(R) nominated mini-series The Pillars of the Earth, based on the best-selling book by Ken Follett. They also produced the long-running hit CBS show Numb3rs. With offices in Los Angeles and London, Scott Free works closely with RSA Films, one of the world largest and most successful commercial production houses in the world.